hollyjollyjustice:

elfgrinch:

“intersexism does not disprove dimorphism” first of all, fuck you for dehumanising me “intersexism” wtf is that bullshit

second, @hollyjollyjustice can u send me some resources to roast this radscum bullshit since you’re a biology major? if not that’s totally fine

*Rubs hands together*

My time has come. I don’t have alot of online sources because most of this has come from either my paper and ink textbooks or professors.

Which is pretty legit considering I go to the top undergraduate university in Canada, UNBC. My education is pretty legit. So I can give you a rundown.

The whole concept of ‘biological sex’ and sexual dimorphism in humans is based in a basic misunderstanding of how science and biology as a science defines sex.

The definition of sex is so wildly different in different offshoots of biology that it’s ridicules. Botanists often define it as if something gives gametes or receives, and sex is often narrowed down to one part of a plant, not the whole. Biologists who study animals define sex differently depending on what animal they work on, and in many cases have to either have to inaccurately describe something as male or female or abandon the binary completely.

In human, medical biology sex is defined by a list of about 6 different types of sexes. There’s chromosomal sex (the chromosomes present), nuclear sex (the phenotype of the chromosomes ie how that chromosome pattern actually looks), endocrinologic sex (sex based off the phenotypes influenced by endocrine system), sex hormones (the balance of testosterone and estrogen, along with other influencing hormones), gonadal sex (based on gonadal tissue like ovaries), and morphological sex (the appearence of external genitals).

That’s alot of categories to fit into. And alot of them have blurred edges. None of them have an easy black and white, male or female to them, They’re all nuanced and affected by many different factors. Nuclear sex could indicate a female result and endocrinalogic sex could say male while chromosomal sex says an xx/xy mosaic.

Intersex people aren’t some mutation out of a clear black and white binary. Intersex people are proof that our system of sex sucks for humans. There are too many categories with ill defined lines for everyone to fit into. Life is messy. Genetics is messy. You can’t fit humans into an easy two sex binary because there is much too much variation.

Sexual dimorphism barely works for non-human animals. A sex binary works best for science when we’re trying to study other animals. It’s easier to figure out the behavioral patterns of salmon if we can split them into two groups, those that lay the eggs and those that fertilize them. It makes fish counts easier to understand, data easier to interpret. It helps us learn more about species that aren’t us.

But we don’t need that for humans. Humans can communicate with each other. We have a knowledge of our bodies that far surpasses what we will know about any other species.

The studies done on humans right now have surpassed the point where a ‘biological sex’ is useful. At this point instead of simplifying, it introduces more variables.

If your cancer research focuses on people with a certain level of estrogen then defining them as women muddies your results. how many of these ‘women’ have had chromosome testing, how many have gonadal tissue still, how many fit the same morphological sex, how many of them have large amounts of breast tissue?

If a ‘biological’ woman gets a mastectomy and no longer fits that part
of the endocrinological definition of female is she no longer female? If
a ‘biological’ woman has cancer and gets her ovaries removed,
nullifying a gonadal sex definition is she still female.

If your study doesn’t account for outliers, then it’s a shitty study. Sexual dimorphism in humans automatically has many outliers.

The idea of a cut and dry sex binary only fits into a elementary school level of biology. It, like much of the other oversimplified nonsense we teach children, does not reflect the scientific reality.

So In conclusion:

• Sex is so much more complicated than ‘this = girl this =boy’
• There are many factors that determine sex, none of which have nice, black and white definitions
• Sexual dimorphism is a thing only useful for the study of nonhuman organisms, humans have moved past it’s usefulness
• ‘Biological sex’ is a simplified definition taught in elementary and highschools; but they also taught you in elementary school that the great wall of china can be seen from space and that there are only 5 senses and both of those are just plain wrong.

As a note:

If anyone wants to hear more biology ranting like this just as, I’m always a slut for a analysis of the current state of biology and it’s relations to culture. And if anyone want’s to use my word’s to slam some nonsense go ahead and quote me! Just @ me so I can see it. If I have the spoons, I’d love to help you correct someone knowledge of science.